French president Hollande vows to support Iraq in war on Daesh group

French President Francois Hollande vowed on Monday to continue supporting Iraq in its fight against the Islamic State (IS) militant group and to help in the reconstruction efforts of damaged cities.

"My visit to Iraq is to convey support and solidarity from France to the operation of liberating Mosul," Hollande said during a joint news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

"France will actively participate in the reconstruction efforts in Mosul after defeating the IS there," Hollande said.

Hollande added that recapturing Mosul, Iraq's second largest city and the last major IS stronghold in the country, was "a matter of weeks not years. The sooner the better."

However, Hollande cautioned that efforts must then focus on Raqa in Syria.

"What will happen in Iraq and Syria will affect the security situation in France and Europe," Hollande said.

As for French jihadi citizens, Hollande said France will fight any French jihadist it locates in the battlefields of Iraq, pledging to arrest them if they return home and to work on de-radicalizing their children.

According to French diplomatic sources, there are around 60 French citizens fighting with IS in Iraq's northern city of Mosul, and hundreds elsewhere in Iraq and Syria.

"We will fight them like we do all jihadists, since they are attacking us, masterminding attacks on our own territory," Hollande told a news conference.

Abadi, for his part, hailed France's participation in the anti-IS international coalition, asserting "the international coalition has no combative forces on the ground, and their role is only to support Iraqi forces."

Abadi confirmed that Iraqi forces "are in the last stages of eliminating Daesh (the Arabic acronym for IS) from Iraq."

"We hope it will be eradicated from the whole region," the Iraqi leader said.

Hollande also met with his Iraqi counterpart, Fuad Masoum, and the two discussed bilateral relations as well as the war against IS.

"We stressed in our talks on the need for French support to Iraq in the current stage, including training Iraqi forces, in addition to discussing a national reconciliation,"a statement issued by Masoum's office quoted him as saying.

During his visit, Hollande also met with Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jubouri, and the two discussed the fight against IS and the status of displaced persons.

"The victories of the Iraqi security forces came as a result of support from friendly countries," Jubouri said. "We want the international community to exert efforts to relieve displaced persons through cooperating with the Iraqi government and international as well as local humanitarian organizations."

Hollande, travelling with Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, flew into Arbil, the capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan, Monday afternoon.

France has around 500 troops fighting alongside the U.S.-led coalition forces, the second largest contributor to the international coalition, which has carried out thousands of air strikes against the IS in Iraq and Syria, in addition to providing Iraqi forces with military equipment and training.

This is Hollande's second visit to Iraq as French president. He last visited Iraq in September 2014.

Hollande's visit comes amid a major offensive by Iraqi security forces, backed by an international coalition, to drive IS militants out from their last major stronghold in Mosul.

source: Xinhua